Konnor
| birth_place = Grand Rapids, Michigan | death_date = | death_place = | resides = | billed = Grand Rapids, Michigan Boston, Massachusetts Detroit, Michigan | trainer = Alex G Bill DeMott Joe Hamilton Norman Smiley | debut = 2001 | retired = }} Ryan Parmeter (February 6, 1980) is an American professional wrestler who was previously signed to WWE under the ring name Konnor. He and his then girlfriend, now fiancée, Krissy Vaine both had WWE developmental contracts, both competing in its developmental territories Georgia Championship Wrestling, Florida Championship Wrestling and Deep South Wrestling as well as appearing on house shows for WWE's ECW brand, but requested to be released for personal reasons in October 2007. Both had made several appearances on WWE Raw and SmackDown prior to their release and O'Reilly, who had previously appeared on ECW on Sci Fi, was expected to join the regular ECW roster. Parmeter has also toured Puerto Rico, Guam and South Korea. Following his release, Parmeter took time off from wrestling, before debuting for NWA Charlotte in February 2009. In July 2010, he was re-signed by WWE, and returned to FCW where he began wrestling as Conor O'Brian. Later in 2010, he was part of the fourth season of NXT and earned fourth place on the show's fifth season, NXT Redemption. Professional wrestling career Early career In 2001, O'Reilly made his wrestling debut and spent much of his early career in various independent promotions throughout the southeastern United States, particularly in the Florida-area. In January 2003, he appeared on the Hardcore Championship Wrestling supercard Hardkore Returns where he and Markus Faulk fought to a no-contest after the match became a wild brawl ending only after several other wrestlers had to separate the two men. He had previously trained at Rusty Brooks wrestling school School of Hard Knocks and began wrestling in Brooks promotion Four Star Championship Wrestling. He and Jeff "J-Dawg" Brooks, son of promoter Rusty Brooks, formed the "Irish Thug Connection" and together captured the promotion's tag team titles defeating "Phi Delta Slam" (Big Tilly and Bruno Sassi) on November 8, 2003. In 2004, he feuded with Norman Smiley over the FSCW Heavyweight title. One of these matches, sponsored by Florida Atlantic University's Rocky Horror Picture Show Fan Club, took place at FAU's Live Oaks Pavilion on May 23. He faced Smiley in a rematch in the main event at the FSCW supercard Clam Slam 2004 held at the Clamster's Pub and Raw Bar in Deerfield Beach, Florida on July 17. The event also featured Jeff Brooks, Vampire Warrior, Soulman Alex G and Scott Commodity. World Wrestling Entertainment (2005-2008) Developmental territories After four years on the independent circuit, O'Reilly made his DSW debut losing to Jack Bull (with Angel Williams) at DSW's first show on September 1, 2005. He also lost to "Big Time" Nick Mitchell a week later before teaming with Ryan Reeves to defeat The Regulators on September 15. O'Reilly lost matches to Mike Mizanin and Jack Bull during the next week, however he did manage to defeat Shawn Schultz on October 13. Losing to Derrick Neikirk on October 20 was followed by a countout victory over Joe Slaughter a week later. During November, he defeated Eric Perez and Freakin Deacon before he and Nick Mitchell lost a tag team match to The Regulators. Later that week, he made his first WWE appearance defeating Eric Perez in a dark match on SmackDown! on December 9. He defeated Perez in a rematch later that week. On December 22, he beat Freakin' Deacon after outside interference by Palmer Cannon allowed O'Reilly to pin his opponent. That same night, he also defeated Montel Vontavious Porter. In mid-January 2006, O'Reilly teamed with Ryan Reeves but lost matches to Team Elite (Mike Knox and Derrick Neikirk) and The Gymini, although he did defeat William Regal and Johnny Parisi the next month before taking a 7-week absence. Returning to action in April, he won matches against Biohazard, Mikal Adryan and Bradley Jay. He and Danny Germundo entered a championship tournament for the DSW Tag Team Championship but were eliminated by Team Elite on May 11. Defeating William Regal on May 18, he faced Mike Knox several days later losing by disqualification. He again lost to him in a dark match on June 1, but defeated him at DSW Six Flags Slam show at Six Flags later that week. He also defeated Francisco Ciatso and Bradley Jay that same month. On June 22, O'Reilly defeated Derrick Neikirk to win the DSW Heavyweight title. Defending the title against Mike Knox on June 29 and, later that week, against Knox and Neikirk in a 3-way dance on July 6, he also defeated Montel Vontavious Porter (with Quentin Michaels) by disqualification on July 13. He also made back-to-back appearances for the WWE's ECW brand with rival Derrick Neikirk in losing efforts against The FBI (Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke) on July 16–17. Defending his title in rematches against Montel Vontavious Porter, Mike Knox and Danny Gimondo, he made a second and third appearance for the ECW brand as he and Neikirk once again facing to against The FBI at house shows on July 29–30 and again on August 5–6. They defeated The FBI in their second encounter, but lost in their third meeting. He also defeating Lawrence Tyler in a non-title match on August 10, Montel Vontavious Porter the following night at the DSW Six Flags Park Slam show, and The FBI in another ECW brand house show on August 12. He and Neikirk would continue to face The FBI in another series of house show matches during late-August. He and Neikirk were apparently planned to compete as a tag team in the ECW brand later that year, but these plans were canceled when O'Reilly violated the WWE's Wellness Program and was suspended for 30 days. September 7, O'Reilly finally lost the DSW Heavyweight Championship to Bradley Jay. After this loss, O'Reilly would become less active and eventually became the personal assistant of DSW General Manager Krissy Vaine on October 12. Defeating David Heath in a dark match on October 19, O'Reilly eventually received a chance to regain the heavyweight title after defeating Derrik Neikirk to decide the number one contender a week later. However, he was unable to unseat Bradley Jay losing to him on November 9. He also lost to Bradley Jay & Mike Knox in a tag team match with Derrick Neikirk on November 16 and in a singles match against Mike Knox at the end of the month. On December 12, O'Reilly appeared on ECW on Sci Fi as one of Paul Heyman's personal enforcers with Doug Basham. Both men were later attacked by Bobby Lashley. In January 2007, he continued feuding with Bradley Jay and beat him in a non-title match on January 18. He lost to him the following night however and, on January 25, he lost to Big Vito in a round robin match with Bradley Jay. He eventually won the title from Bradley Jay on March 1, although he lost the title back to him a week later. The title was held up in a match between the two on March 15, and the two faced each other a grudge match during the next two days. He defeated Bradley Jay at a house show at the first grudge match while Bradley Jay won the second match at the DSW Six Flags Park Slam show on March 17. On March 31, he was eliminated by Bradley Jay in the opening rounds of the Best of 7 Series. On April 7, he would make his last appearance defeating Afa, Jr. with the sleeper hold. O'Reilly and Eric Perez were originally scheduled to face The Samoans (Afa, Jr. and Sonny Siaki) in the main event of the final event held by DSW, however he was injured in an attack by The Samoans prior to the match. Afa, Jr. hit him with a superkick and he and his partner knocked O'Reilly unconscious with a double headbutt. He and Perez were replaced by The Major Brothers. During the summer, O'Reilly would appear in dark matches on WWE Raw and SmackDown against Sylvan Grenier, Chuck Palumbo, Super Crazy, Cody Rhodes and D'Lo Brown. In a tag team match with Johnny Jeter, he lost to The Highlanders on August 27 and to Hardcore Holly on September 17. He briefly appeared in Florida Championship Wrestling, a WWE developmental territory, where both Lacey Von Erich and Maryse were his valets. Semi-retirement On October 10, he and his girlfriend Krissy Vaine were released from their contracts which they requested due to personal reasons. One of the reasons for their decision was health problems suffered by their families, specifically O'Reilly's father who had recently suffered a stroke. On October 23, O'Reilly was interviewed on the internet radio show Wrestling Weekly hosted by Doc Young and guest co-hosts Bryan Alvarez and Bill DeMott. During the interview, he discussed his reasons for leaving the WWE as well as the origin of his in-ring persona, his early career in Total Nonstop Action, the close of Deep South Wrestling and his taking a "time-off period" from professional wrestling. He also announced his engagement to Krissy Vaine. NWA Charlotte On February 14, 2009 Ryan O'Reilly made his return to the ring working for NWA Charlotte, where he wrestled against Truitt Fields for the territory's Heavyweight Championship, but was unable to win the title. After the loss, O'Reilly formed an alliance with Mikael Judas and Phill Shatter (later to become Gunner & Murphy on TNA) called III, which lasted until the territory's closure. World Wrestling Entertainment Return to WWE (2010-2011) Parmeter was re-signed by the WWE on July 14, 2010, and was reassigned to Florida Championship Wrestling. At the September 24 tapings of FCW, he began working under the ring name Conor O'Brian. On November 30, 2010, during the season finale of season three of NXT, it was announced that Parmeter, under the name Conor O'Brian, would be appearing on season four, with Alberto Del Rio as his mentor. On this first edition of NXT Season 4, he and his pro Alberto Del Rio defeated Daniel Bryan and Bryan's rookie Derrick Bateman in a tag team match. The Ascension (2011-2019) He returned to FCW and formed the team The Ascension but got injured. With the conclusion of NXT Redemption, WWE rebranded its developmental territory, FCW, into NXT Wrestling. O'Brian and Cameron, as the Ascension, debuted on the first episode of the rebooted WWE NXT taped at Full Sail University, where they defeated Mike Dalton and CJ Parker. The Ascension then started a feud with the Usos, defeating them on the September 5 NXT, and also scored a win over Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd on the October 3 NXT. Two weeks later, the Ascension teamed up with Kassius Ohno to defeat Richie Steamboat and the Usos. The Ascension disbanded on November 30, 2012 when Cameron was released from WWE. O'Brian retained his character while using "The Ascension" as his nickname as he started to feud with Big E Langston for the NXT Championship. O'Brian first faced Langston in a non-title match, which ended in a double disqualification. O'Brian then faced Corey Graves in a number one contender match which had no winner when The Shield attacked both men to make a statement. The next week, O'Brian defeated Graves and Bo Dallas to become the number one contender. The feud ended after O'Brian was defeated in a title match on the April 4 episode of NXT. On the May 29 NXT, O'Brian competed in an 18-man number one contender battle royal and was eliminated by Corey Graves and Kassius Ohno. To reform the Ascension tag team, Rick Victor allied himself with O'Brian as they chased the NXT Tag Team Championship held by Adrian Neville and Corey Graves. On November 10, 2013 O'Brian's name was tweaked and shortened to "Konnor". The Ascension won the NXT Tag Team Championship on September 12, 2013. On February 27, 2014 at NXT Arrival, he and Viktor successfully defended the NXT Tag Team Championships against Too Cool. On May 29, 2014 at NXT Takeover, they retained the NXT Tag Team Championship titles against El Local and Kalisto. A NXT Tag Team Tournament was set up for the winning team to become the #1 contenders to face the Ascension at NXT Takeover II. On September 3, Kalisto and Sin Cara now teaming as the Lucha Dragons won the tournament to become the #1 contenders and faced the Ascension at Takeover II. At Takeover II, The Ascension lost their NXT Tag Team Championship to the Lucha Dragons. Still upset after losing the titles earlier that night, Konnor along with Viktor interrupted Hideo Itami's debut segment and proceeded to attack Itami and then demand a rematch. Itami recovered and cleared the ring of both members of the Ascension. Both members of the Ascension would continue their assault on Itami until Itami brought the debuting Finn Bálor on the November 6th episode of NXT to help stop the Ascension. A tag match between the Ascension and the team of Itami and Bálor was announced for the NXT Takeover: R Evolution special event. At NXT Takeover: R Evolution, The Ascension lost against Bálor, with a war paint look, and Itami at the special event. On the December 12 episode of Smackdown, a vignette aired for the Ascension's call-up to the main roster. On the December 29th edition of Raw, they made their official main roster debut by defeating The Miz and Damien Mizdow. They made their Smackdown debut on January 2 when they defeated local wrestlers in a squash match. Extending their winning streak through more wins over local wrestlers, The Ascension would also criticize legendary WWE tag teams including Demolition and The Road Warriors. On the January 19th edition of Raw, also known as Raw Reunion on that night, The Ascension would confront the reuniting members of the New World Order members Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and X-Pac, and were about to attack them before they were interrupted and brought down by the Acolytes Protection Agency and the New Age Outlaws. Later that night it was announced that a tag match was set up between the Ascension and New Age Outlaws at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The Ascension would then defeat the New Age Outlaws at the event, continuing their winning streak. On April 16, 2016, Parmeter was suspended for 60 days for his second violation of the Wellness Program. On the June 24 episode of Superstars, Konnor returned from suspension when the Ascension faced the Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth) in a losing effort. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE Draft Lottery, The Ascension were drafted to SmackDown, making their debut on the July 26 episode in a WWE Championship No. 1 Contender's Six-Pack Qualifying Battle Royal, which was won by Apollo Crews. At the SummerSlam kickoff, The Ascension competed in a 12-man tag team match where their team lost. They then entered the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship tournament, where they were eliminatied in the first round by The Usos. On the September 27 episode of SmackDown Live, the Ascension picked up their first win on the brand, when The Ascension and The Usos defeated Heath Slater, Rhyno and American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) in an eight-man tag team match. At Elimination Chamber 2017, the Ascension competed in a tag team turmoil match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship where they were the final team eliminated. Konnor, alongside Viktor, would later enter the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33, but both men were eliminated from the match. At Money in the Bank 2017, The Ascension lost to Breezango after they claimed responsibility for a vandal attack in their office. On the June 27 episode of SmackDown Live, The Ascension was interrogated by Breezango on "Fashion Vice", admitting that they didn't commit the crime and only took responsibility, because they wanted a match at the PPV. In September, the duo turned face when they started trying to befriend Breezango during the latters' 'Fashion Files' segments. On the January 9 episode of SmackDown Live, The Ascension a loss to The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan), for a while the duo would only appear as supporting characters in Breezango's Fashion Files skits. The duo were participants in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34, with Konnor being the first of the duo to be eliminated. During the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, The Ascension were traded to Raw. On the April 23 episode of Raw, The Ascension, once again as heels, faced the team of Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt in a losing effort. At the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble event, Konnor entered at number 19 but was eliminated by Elias. Konnor was released by WWE on December 8, 2019. Personal life Parmeter began dating fellow professional wrestler Kristin Eubanks better known as Krissy Vaine in 2006. In an interview in October 2007, Parmeter announced the two were engaged. In September 2017, the couple had their first child, a boy, named Elijah. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **'As Conor O'Brian/Konnor' ***''Fall of Man'' (Flapjack followed by a running leg drop to the back of the opponent's head) ***Full nelson slam ***''Stockade'' (Grounded octopus stretch) **'As Ryan O'Reilly / Rough House O'Reilly' ***''Rooftop Drop'' (Full nelson slam) ***''Rough Shot'' (Double leg slam) *'Signature moves' **Body avalanche **Diving shoulder block **Elbow drop **Flapjack **Multiple side headlock takeovers **Running single leg dropkick **Russian legsweep *'With Kenneth Cameron' **'Double team finishing moves' ***''Downcast'' (Jawbreaker by Cameron followed by a flapjack by O'Brian) ***''Fall of Man'' (Legsweep (O'Brian) / Spinning Heel kick (Cameron) combination) *'With Rick Victor' **'Double team finishing moves' ***''Fall of Man'' (Legsweep (O'Brian) / Spinning back elbow (Viktor) combination) *'Nicknames' **"Roughhouse" **"Irish" **"The Ascension" *'Entrance themes' **"Let Battle Commence" by Daniel Nielsen (FCW / NXT; 2011–2014; Used while a part of The Ascension) **"Anchor (Instrumental)" by That Noise (NXT; 2013) **"Rebellion" by CFO$ (NXT; 2014–2019; used While part of The Ascension) Championships and accomplishments *'Coastal Championship Wrestling' **CCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **CCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Sean Allen *'Deep South Wrestling' **DSW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *'Four Star Championship Wrestling' **FSCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **FSCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Jeff "J-Dawg" Brooks *'Georgia Championship Wrestling' **GCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Kings of Pro Wrestling' **KPW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *'Maximum Pro Wrestling' **MPW Television Championship (1 time) *'NWA Sunray Pro Wrestling' **NWA Sunray Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'NXT Wrestling' **NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Rick Victor/Viktor *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI ranked him #'179' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2013 See also *Konnor's event history External links * WWE.com Profile * Konnor profile at CAGEMATCH.net Category:American wrestlers Category:Coastal Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Deep South Wrestling alumni Category:Total Nonstop Action Wrestling alumni Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni Category:Florida Championship Wrestling alumni Category:1980 births Category:2001 debuts Category:NXT season 4 Category:NXT Redemption Category:Michigan wrestlers Category:WWE NXT alumni Category:Living people Category:Male wrestlers Category:Elimination Chamber Match alumni Category:NXT Tag Team Champions